Chennai and the December Cultural Season
Starting December till almost mid-January Chennai (more about this season) goes through the annual juanta of the music and dance festival. The music means - Carnatic and dance means largely Bharatnatyam. Strangely this December season, very secular and hence obviously popular among the modernists, does not fit into the calendar of either the Tamil or Telugu who dominate and shape the culture of Chennai. Margazhi masam (or Dhanur masam for Telugus) is meant to be auspicious and does not have any public festivities attached to it. No domestic functions are to be conducted during this month in these parts. In rural hamlets as this would be peak agricultural season, much work would be on in the field providing very little time for entertainment or cultural events. But, Chennai Music Festival defies the agricultural calendar also.
The most talked (and often written) thing during the music festival is the catering facility in the Sabhas. One Sabha Secretary confides that the reputation of the caterer is one of the determining factors for the kind and magnitude of crowd attendance for the programmes, particularly for the afternoon and early evening when less known artists are given a chance and the programmes are mostly free. In most Sabha invitations one would find the name of the caterer printed boldly or at least "catering / canteen facility available" (the kind of blase statement only the conservative Chennai-ites can come up with).
The busy areas area Mylapore, Alwarpet, Basent Nagar, T. Nagar. The heart of the music season of course, beats at Mylapore. An unique conservative location where the tasteless hoardings advertising men's briefs compete the sky line with the temple towers and the beautiful coconut trees, few of which still survive.
The most talked (and often written) thing during the music festival is the catering facility in the Sabhas. One Sabha Secretary confides that the reputation of the caterer is one of the determining factors for the kind and magnitude of crowd attendance for the programmes, particularly for the afternoon and early evening when less known artists are given a chance and the programmes are mostly free. In most Sabha invitations one would find the name of the caterer printed boldly or at least "catering / canteen facility available" (the kind of blase statement only the conservative Chennai-ites can come up with).
The busy areas area Mylapore, Alwarpet, Basent Nagar, T. Nagar. The heart of the music season of course, beats at Mylapore. An unique conservative location where the tasteless hoardings advertising men's briefs compete the sky line with the temple towers and the beautiful coconut trees, few of which still survive.
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